La Bella Noche: Voices of the Past
by Torridly Apropos Author
Summary: I swear I'm just a normal teen. I play sports, I'm late for class, I have friends, I love, I hate, oh and I just happen to have superhuman powers, and have been cursed with the dark gift. Other than, that I'm perfectly normal. FA Action Ahead, Review!
1. Feeding

La Bella Noche: Voices of the Past

Chapter I: Feeding

"I wish to possess you. I wish to touch you. I wish to know you. I will hold you. I will caress you. I will reach into the very depths of your soul. I will invoke a spirit in you that will allow you to see the world as the gods do. I will give you inhuman strength. I will give you the sky bejeweled with stars. I will ignite you with passion. I will make you eternally young."

A pause.

" Your years will know no end. Let me have you and in return I will give you immortality. I will give you all of my being, and my fortune, but my greatest gift to you is my heart, my love, take it and I promise you the world. Deny me, and I will most surely die. As will you in due time. Come with me and I will take you away from all this sadness, all this…

(He pauses again, searching for a strong enough word_) life_. Come with me and I will show you all that love can be."

Then I hear kissing, the couple making love, then the images blur, I hear hurried Italian, I see the sky, I hear yelling… screaming, I see a forest, it's raining and the lightning rips through the trees, the woman is running now and falls to her knees on more than one occasion, she scratches her face and arms on the unkind foliage around her, finally she hears someone angrily approaching her from behind, she panics and runs deeper into the Forrest, finally she stops to rest behind a tree in a small thicket of briars. She opens her cloak and deposits a bundle at the base of the tree, tears streaming down her face; she purposely strides back the way she came. There is no trace of fear in her eyes now, only sadness. For a moment there is silence, and then suddenly a burst of white green light, I hear her body hit the Forrest floor and then all goes dark.

3:27 a.m.

I awake panting, drenched in a cold sweat, riddled with fear. I've been having the same dream for the past fourteen years and it still manages to scare me out of my mind. At seventeen you'd think I'd be past the night terrors stage. I would dwell on that, but currently, I have more pressing matters to attend to. Its time for my nightly feeding, oh joy.

I slowly open my bed hangings and cast a silencing charm on my bed, I slip on a pair of Gryffindor socks, and I'm out the door wand in hand. I could tell you I'm on my way to the kitchens or the great hall for a little midnight snack or I could tell you that I'm hypoglycemic and I have to eat constantly to stay healthy, which in a way I guess is true, it's just what I have to eat that causes others to feel a little squeamish. But since I can't change my past why should I lie or tell half-truths? I'm heading to the infirmary. Right now I know you _might_ be asking yourself why in hell would I be going to the infirmary if I were hungry? Well my dear friend, I am the scourge that walks the night, I am she that rules in darkness and scorns the light, I am the undead.

(Pause for dramatic effect)

I am… Vampire! No seriously, I am. A Vampire that is. I'm really just a normal teenage girl, I just happen to have problems with true or direct sunlight, I have heightened senses and a few special abilities, I'm extra lusty when horny, it's the blood lust that does it, and I can thrall, oh and to survive I have to drink a nominal amount of blood. Now you know why the infirmary is my destination of choice. I used to go to the kitchens but the house elves, get really jumpy when I go into feeding mode, and I really like them so I asked Dumbledore to let me switch to the infirmary. I walk a few more steps and come upon the great-carved double doors that shut the Hospital wing off from the castle, I rap my signature into the door (two short, pause, three fast), They open slowly and I enter.

"Madame Pompfrey?" I call out into the dark, I can see her perfectly as if she were standing in a lighted room, I could sense her smell her the moment I reached the Hospital wing, I could hear her heart beat at the doors. After the first few times I came to the infirmary and almost scared her into a coma by coming up on her so silently, I started knocking and announcing my presence.

"Yes, Angelina dear?" She is most grateful for my understanding

"I've come for my… _medicine_." I say, my self-loathing painfully evident

"Oh yes dear, it's on the bedside as usual. Oh I also had Professor Snape brew up a fresh batch of his sunlight draught, it's supposed to be particularly sunny for the next week or so, and I don't want you burning so drink that glass as well." She wishes I would just accept my fate, and let her baby me.

Never.

"If I must." I say walking slowly over to the bed. I decide to drink the sunlight draught first, I pick up the glass and drain it's lemony yellow contents. I wait a few moments, as it integrates into my body's blood stream protecting me from the suns harsh rays. I place the empty glass on the bedside table and pick up one of the blood bags.

"Tonight it seems we'll be having A positive, with a side of B negative" I say jokingly however morbidly. I squeeze the first bag tightly, my fangs unsheathe, and I drink. She warmed them tonight how,… sweet. I can feel the blood immediately as it hits my system, it's as though I've slept for days I feel more alert, more relaxed, I feel intelligent, rejuvenated, I feel beautiful, I feel… the bottom of the bag fast approaching. I take one last swallow and inhale the last drops. I toss the empty bag into the trash and drain the second one in the same fashion.

There's never any residue, because my fangs are like those of spiders and some snakes. Gross, I know but I have a point. Ha, I'm so punny. Anyway, their fangs are hollow so that _poison_ can be pumped _down_ through them, mine are the same except they work backwards and allow _blood _to be sucked _up_ them.

I stand up and straighten my clothes out, and stride towards the mirror at the other end of the room; I stare purposefully at my reflection. Yes I have a reflection. Forget what the old myths tell you we have reflections, it's just in the early days of change one could get caught up in blood lust and kill those closest to them, dealing with that grief, loss, and guilt became so powerful that many Vampires began to view their own faces as anathema, and so began the 'reflection' myth. I can't say I blame them.

I look prettier than usual, my hair is an inch longer and it falls in a body waved curtain onto my back, my fangs have retracted some but won't go in completely until the beast within me realizes that there is no more blood to be had, my eyes are a brilliant lilac, they get this way after I drink, and as I come off my blood high they will darken slowly to my natural dark brown, my lips are fuller, my chocolate skin is tinged with a healthy red gold pigment, and my body is rounder in all the right places. I look like a supermodel, any man's fantasy and all I can think of right now is sex.

Sex and blood go hand in hand with us Vampires. The only stories about us that are consistently true are the ones about our sexual appetites. Blood is our life source and we through many generations of adaptations can hear it running through the veins of our quarry we can even hear it rushing through the heart. Like most animals the scent is also important to us, the scent of fear, the kill, and lust are all very close to one another and it is when these emotions and scents get tangled that you get your dead humans.

Dead humans are honestly the furthest thing from my mind right now what I want, is a live one. A healthy, stout, sexy one, one with red hair, freckles, and a gorgeous smile, with a lean muscled frame, and a light dusting of auburn hair that leads to his sweet spot. I want Fred Weasley. Before I knew it I was out of the infirmary and on my way back to Gryffindor tower. When I finally looked up I realized I was half way up the stairs to the boys dormitory, I turned quickly and raced back to my own dorm.

I took two cold showers, and sent myself to bed.

I've finally learned to control my powers, but something is coming something big and I don't know what it is. I've needed more blood to stay alert, and my sexual urges have been even harder to control. But I must contain them because I cannot let my peers find out about my dark little secret, and I cannot give into the temptation that Fred presents to me, I do not know what I would be capable of during full lust, and if I cannot guarantee his safety, I won't even entertain the idea of becoming his lover.

On second thought, maybe in not so normal after all.


	2. Learning

La Bella Noche: Voices of the Past

Chapter II: Learning

It's been two weeks since I last fed. At first I thought that such a sudden lack of blood would have a negative effect on my body but the opposite seems to be occurring. I've become even more alert if you can believe it, my powers have been strengthened by their sudden lack of blood and the best part is I've stopped having dreams and I sleep through the night. I even feel more in control when I'm around other humans. Maybe, its going away, maybe I can be normal again.

One week later…

It seems that I have spoken too soon. Apparently my heightened senses, and dreamless nights were all a hoax, an expertly crafted plan, courtesy of the beast within. Apparently when my kind goes without blood for short periods of time, the loss is almost undetectable, one experiences a heightened sense of awareness, you feel as though you have kicked the habit, you almost feel… human again.

Almost.

But the feelings of well-being and freedom do not last, and the longer we go without, the more restless the beast becomes, it sharpens our senses in order to ensure a successful hunt. Being a conceited and self-centered little disease, vampirism automatically assumes that if its host isn't imbibing blood on a regular basis that they have just gotten a little lax in their vampiric practices and need a little pick me up, accompanied by a small reminder of the power that they can have so long as they feed the hunger.

Vampirism, arrogant virus that it is, is quickly finding out that I am not so easily swayed.

I mean it would never stop to think that maybe we (vampires that is) may not want to live this… this half life, avoiding all that is good and light with the world in exchange for eternity. For what good is eternity if one must spend it alone to protect the ones that they love?

Suddenly eternity isn't looking so bright, and blood doesn't seem so appetizing.

I tried to resist the urge. I ignored the warning signs, and have begun to spurn my heightened powers.

I'm quickly discovering that vampirism has a right to be conceited

Why?

Because, it's good. It knows exactly what to do to force me to cave.

In a desperate attempt to force me into submission it has upped my sexual urges and pushed my hunger almost to the breaking point, It has gotten so, that I can't walk past a male without feeling the intense urge to feed, out of both nourishment and desire.

So I have come to a decision. I will separate myself completely from all of my triggers. It won't be easy but with the aid of a few cloaking spells and my "amazing" powers of concealment I should be able to go to classes unperturbed, sneaking gracefully beneath the radar of my friends, teachers, and peers.

I made it exactly two more weeks.

That's a full month without blood and a week into another! Do you realize how significant that is? I was doing so well, I was avoiding everyone successfully; I even managed to keep my distance from everyone during quidditch practice

(Granted they may have been avoiding me just a little bit due to my frequent mood swings, which I attribute to the stress of being team captain), I was doing so _well_, mood swings asideI truly felt as though I had beaten it.

It took exactly one word to destabilize my plan.

Detention 

How exactly did I merit such a miraculously wonderful waste of time? Well let's just say that it was professor Snape's time of the month and that caused him to lash out at me in a completely inappropriate manner, and not the fact that due to my lack of blood I had become so unfocused during potions that I almost added raw Artemisia Absinthia (wormwood) instead of Artemisia Abrotanum (southernwood) to a solution of anise, rosemary, chopped angelica root and vodka. So what's wrong with that you say? Well, instead of making a proper disillusionment drought like I was supposed to be doing, I was two seconds away from basically making crude absinthe. And since hard liquors and the hallucinogenic drug THC (which just so happens to be the mind altering component of Absinthe and second most prominent element found in wormwood) aren't allowed on school grounds, I got detention, for attempting to make an illegal substance.

I love this school. I can walk up stairs suck down thirty pints of AB negative and no one bats an eyelash but if I accidentally almost make liquor, and everyone gets bent out of shape.

I was fuming as I stomped down to the dungeons at seven o'clock for detention. I was about ready to bite someone's head off (no pun intended) by the time I got to Snape's classroom. What I found when I got there left me both shocked and annoyed. Taped upon the half opened door was a note, hastily scribbled in Snape's trademark masculine calligraphy…

" Detention Detainee,

For your punishment you will take inventory of the current herbs and fresh cuttings that we have at this moment, taking special care to denote which ingredients we're running low on or are approaching their magical expiration date. Professor sprout is getting ready for the fall harvesting of the green houses and would like to know what she needs to set a aside for herbology and potions classes. Your detention will begin promptly at seven ten and will end when you have completed the assigned task. Have I made myself clear? Good. Oh and Ms. Johnson, do try your best not to let any tricky herb names confuse you tonight, I'd hate for you to harm that tiny brain of yours. I imagine any damage incurred would cause considerable problems seeing as there's so little of it to begin with. You will be expected to inventory the northernmost wall of the potions storeroom"

- Prof. S. Snape

"Its amazing how, even in a letter he manages to be both, fiercely insulting and patronizing, with every word oozing hatred and dripping with disdain. Tis' a gift not many of us possess." I said, ripping the note off the door and stalking into the classroom dropping the now crumpled note in the nearest garbage bin. " I wonder if that man could even begin to fathom just how much I loathe him? I swear if I didn't need him to make my sunlight draught I might up and off him myself." I mused as I walked over to Snape's desk to pick up the inventory sheets that had magically appeared.

Four and a half hours later…

Let me just say one thing. I never and I mean_ never_, want to see another stick, leaf, sapling, cutting, sprout, or fungus whether its whole, ground, shredded, powdered, crushed, sliced, chopped, or julienned for as long as I walk this earth, and seeing as that may well be for eternity you can tell that I have formed quite a abhorrence for the plant kingdom

I took a moment to mutter a quick cleansing spell on myself to remove the dust and debris that had gathered on my clothing since the start of my detention some four hours ago, the tingling sensation only lasted a moment but the results left me feeling worlds better, I looked, felt, and smelled fresh and clean, which trust me is significantly better than smelling like a compost heap.

I was just about to put the completed inventory sheets on Snape's desk when …

My senses peaked and zeroed in on something…

No, not something.

Someone.

He hadn't even reached the door yet but I could smell him. From ten feet away from the door I could hear his heartbeat on the other side, I could feel his warmth radiating forth in a subconscious attempt to warm the dark, drafty main hallway of the dungeon

He walked in silently; he was the vision of teenage boydom. Standing there gracefully unaffected, his bland uniform failing miserably at hiding the powerful body beneath. His body was the perfect ratio, broad shoulders and a sleek, cut waist, his school tie was draped around his neck, shirt untucked with the first two buttons undone, ginger hair cut short and gently spiked, lightly sunkissed skin covered in an endearing but sexy sprinkling of light brown freckles, bright mischievous hazel eyes scanning the darkened room for any signs of life…

I stood there reveling in his presence for a moment cloaked in the shadows behind Snape's desk, watching, waiting for him to make a move.

"Professor Sn…" he started to say, but something on the desk had caught his eye "Lina?" Fred said a little surprised

Damn, I thought. I knew I shouldn't have brought my backpack with me 

"Lina, are you in here?" he said walking dangerously close to my hiding spot

"Is _anyone_ in here?" he questioned the dimly lit chamber, stopping with back turned towards me, directly in front of my hiding place

If there were one gift I wish I could have been blessed with it would have been prudence. I knew that I should have kept silent, I knew I should have waited for him to assume that no one was in the room and waited for him to leave and gracefully made my exit, but I couldn't make my self ignore him any longer.

I blame blood lust.

"Hello Fred" I greeted easing slowly out of the shadows and into the light

"Bloody Merlin!" Fred said whipping around to face me "Oh Lina, wow you sacred the crap out of me, so your serving your detention now too?" he asked stepping closer to me

"Uh, Yeah." I answered eloquently "What did you do?" I said, backing away from Fred towards the desk, breathing a little easier once I'd put a row of desks between us

"Oh, nothing really" he said nonchalantly " I just happened to flood the Slytherin boys locker room while they were at practice, it was bloody brilliant! I put a stasis spell on the water so it wouldn't run out, Lina it was beautiful, clothes and what not floating around, George offered to transfigure a practice quaffle into a canoe but in the end we both decided to much, is indeed too much. I'd have gotten away with it too, but I forgot to cover my tracks on the way back to Gryffindor tower. We left separately so George got off scott free" he chuckled at the thought "I on the other hand was a little distracted and well I forgot to place a drying spell on my clothes, needless to say I left a very evident trail, and halfway to the fat lady's portrait _he_ descended upon me with bat like grace and gave me detention, I've been in the greenhouses harvesting ever since." He smiled, stretching and giving me an absolutely glorious view of his lower abdomen _Merlin Bless, un-tucked shirts_.

"Oh well, how long do you have to serve detention?" I said mesmerized by his undulating muscles

"Only tonight." He said sounding puzzled " I just don't understand it, I mean usually when one goes about defacing, damaging, and defiling another house's equipment, especially when that house is Slytherin, one earns about three to four nights detention, but this afternoon was different Snape seemed distracted, and only gave me tonight, and get this he didn't even yell he just waved it off. But far be it from me to complain I have no problem with short detention, gives me time to get back to more important things like planning the destruction of Slytherin house." He concluded smiling even more brightly

"Oh, that's interesting he wasn't here to proctor my detention either, he just left me a nasty little note taped to the door. Anyway, not that I'm not thrilled to see you or anything but what brings you down to these drab and dreary walls if your detention is already over?" I asked inching my way out from behind the desk to lean on its hardwood frame

"Oh I came to get my backpack I left it in here somewhere. You know in the rush to get out of the last class of the day I up and forgot it." He said looking equal parts cute and abashed

"Oh, can I ask you something else?" I said arms crossed and worry written across my face

"Sure Lina." He said searching the floor for his misplaced bag

"What's made you so absent minded lately? I mean you're usually right on top of things? I mean, the backpack is one thing, but to forget to cover your tracks after a prank? Darling that's not like you, you're too experienced for that. Wasn't it you that always told me that to be a great prankster it takes more than just being clever, and cheeky, that you've got to be a meticulous planner and very sneaky?" I stood completely still watching his reaction

"Yeah" he said weakly "Yeah that was me, and I meant it too, in fact truer words have never been spoken when it comes to the art of pranking. You have to plan ahead, and I did that I mean we had all the bases covered its just when it came down to the execution I let my mind wonder for a split second and got caught for something that was blatantly obvious." He said, the bag forgotten for the time being

"What were you thinking about?" I asked, fighting against my desire to wrap my arms around him and comfort him, something was seriously bothering him; and I could feel his pain as though it was washing over me, but I promised myself that I wouldn't allow myself to breech the rules of my plan any further, so I kept my distance.

He hesitated for a moment then let his hazel orbs meet mine, in his distress the green was fighting a losing battle and his eyes were becoming an anxious shade of darkened amber then he spoke…

"You." He sounded so scared, so broken, so vulnerable, so… sad.

It took exactly one word to completely _destroy _my plan.

In that one word I knew the reason he'd been acting so out of character, was because of my virtual dismissal of him from my life. Our relationship was suffering I knew, but when I looked into his eyes I saw fear, raw and real. He was scared that he was going to lose me, or that somehow without his realizing it he already had, he was terrified that I had found something about him or in him that had deemed him worthless in my eyes, and most of all he was scared that my recent ignorance of him was precursor to not only the coming end of our relationship as friends but any possibility of becoming lovers.

Before I knew it I had closed the distance between us.

I wrapped my arms around him, as he pulled me in as close as our clothes would allow nuzzling my neck with his nose and soft warm kisses. I closed my eyes, and drank him in. Literally. I drank in his warmth, and recorded the sound of his heartbeat to memory, I could feel the sunlight that had buried its self in his skin during his time in the green house, and I took a deep shuddering breath trying to take in as much of that wonderfully intoxicating scent that is Fred into my lungs as possible, a delightful blend of muggle cologne, natural musk, spring water, forest mint, and was that a hint of… blood?

Oh sweet Merlin, help me. Oh Merlin, help _him._

Suddenly all of the feelings of warmth and safety I felt in Fred's strong embrace started to dissipate and were replaced by a desire so strong it rocked me to the core.

I wanted to taste Fred. And yes I mean that in everyway that, that sentence can be taken. Never before had the will to take, from a human been this strong.

It was coming from a sizeable cut on his right pointer finger, he must've cut it on something when he was searching for his bag or maybe earlier in the greenhouse and our ministrations must have reopened the laceration.

I wanted to pull away, I wanted to scream, I wanted to warn him, I wanted his warmth, his light… him, all of him. And in realizing that I stopped listening to the logical side of my mind that told me to get the hell out of the classroom before I did something I would regret.

Goddess forgive me for my moment of weakness…

I grasped his wrist with my right hand, looked him in the eye for a moment, and stared at the blood pooling at the end of his finger. It formed a sizeable red bead on the tip, and just as the surface tension on the pool was about to burst I bent my head to the wound and enveloped his fingertip in my mouth. I heard Fred's gasp of mingled confusion and disbelief, and then as I began to tease his fingertip, I heard his sounds of protest meld into deep guttural groans of pleasure.

I could taste his passion, his lust, his dedication and his fear, fear that he was enjoying this as much as I was.

I got the courage to draw on the wound coaxing out even more of the crimson liquid while simultaneously letting my left hand meet the now growing bulge in Fred's pants. From his current position he was leaning against the desk supporting himself with his left arm gaining leverage from his legs, which were now open on each side of me.

I could have drawn from him for an eternity, but as I stoked his prominence and it began to thrust against my hand I felt it as his need reached a fever pitch and before I knew it Fred had drawn me up flush against him and his swollen member and had taken my mouth and claimed it as his own. There was love and adoration in his kiss but there was an underlying force there one with a more primal reasoning behind it a possessiveness that was frightening, endearing, and erotic all at the same time, Fred's kiss was passionate and demanding, as though he wanted to mark me and caress me all in the same move. When he moved his kissed down my neck towards my cleavage, and began to grind his member against my heat I couldn't help respond in kind. Just as my traitorous breasts thrust themselves into his awaiting palms I felt my fangs descend.

They do that when I get hot and bothered. In a startling moment of clarity I pulled away from him in a panic

Fred, still drunk on our passion moaned out a protest and reached for me, but I stepped even farther back fear consuming me.

I was afraid of so many things. My greatest fear was that he would retract all of his feelings for me if he knew my true form but now after seeing what my feelings for him could do if let loose I had a new fear more chilling that the first, that in the midst of our passion I might bite him, drain him and lose him forever either to the night or to death. I couldn't decide which was worse.

I ran out of that classroom like a bat out of hell.

Somehow I don't think a cold shower is gonna do it tonight.

A/N: So could I have a few reviews? They make me very happy.


	3. Stalling

La Bella Noche: Voices of The Past

Chapter III: Stalling

A week has passed since mine and Fred's last encounter, and let me tell you, it is no easy task avoiding one of the two people who know the hallways, hidden rooms, and secret passage ways of Hogwarts almost as well as Dumbledore himself.

Regardless; I pride myself in having for seven whole days successfully managed to avoid Fred. Unfortunately, today is Friday. Which means yes, you guessed it Quidditch practice. I won't hesitate tell you that for the past week I had sent up fervent prayers of thanks to the Goddess for making it so rainy and miserable outside that I had a solid excuse for canceling practice on Monday and Wednesday. But Lady Fortuna, I have discovered is a rather fickle thing and today it would seem that she had finally turned her back on me.

Today began with the sun rising high in the sky early on in the day. She (the sun) steadily continued her ascent and by the end of History of Modern Magical People the trees and cobblestones around the academic wings had completely dried out, after lunch and Advanced Transfiguration the archways and alcoves were so hot you could feel their mortar beginning to crack, and most unluckily of all by the end of Intermediate Potions the Quidditch pitch (which in my totally nonpartisan account could have been the giant squid's new autumn home) was dry as a bone.

My personal sentiment on this information can be summed up in three simple words…

Damn. Damn. _Damn_.

However I believe we've known each other long enough to know that I am not the type to give in that easily. As soon as Intermediate Potions was over, I stopped by the Hospital Wing…

"Madame Pompfrey?" I knew my voice sounded too chipper, but it is hard not to be pleased when an out in an impossible situation presents itself.

"Angelia? Is that you dear?" I could hear the flutter of pages as she closed a book she must have been looking through

"Yes it's me!" I instinctively turned up the wattage on my smile

"I wasn't expecting you until late this evening." She said emerging from her office, somehow managing to look both pleasant and concerned.

"I don't mean to worry you Madame, but I was wondering if I could get a medical excuse, in order to get out of Quidditch today?"

"Whatever for? You know I can't write you a note without due cause." She said folding her arms in consternation, her pleasant attitude replaced with one of suspicion

"But Madame Pompfrey, I just don't think I can handle physical exertion today! I might get weak and what with all that sweat and blood pumping, I might just go into an animalistic frenzy and drain someone!"

I forced my fangs out for emphasis which took the old bird by surprise.

"Angelina you don't look as though you are going through withdrawals, I mean if you say you are I suppose," that's it Poppy lives are at stake, poor defenseless teenagers may die today at the hands of a soulless blood guzzling fiend!

I watched her conjure up a piece of Hogwarts official letter head and begin to sign it with her wand, when a very harried looking first year burst through the giant maple doors of the infirmary.

"Ms. Johnson, this is for you from Professor McGonagall." the disheveled looking thing said thrusting an official looking envelope into my hand, he then turned to Madame Pompfrey, whispered something only she could hear and ran out of the room.

"What was that," I started to say, but was cut short by the sound of paper being ripped into sixteenths by Poppy. As my mouth hung open in shock, Poppy picked up where I left off…

"It would seem Ms. Johnson" Oh peas and cucumbers, she's using the last name "you won't be needing this note, good day" she finished, turning acutely on her heel and stomp-striding off into her office.

Thoroughly confounded, I ripped open McGonagall's message and began to read….

"Dear Angelina,

I do hope that you will make it Quidditch practice today. We've already missed (as you are well aware) both Monday's and Wednesday's practice sessions. I also do not believe that I need to remind you that the team is in desperate need of your guidance and quite honestly between you and me, Harry is much better suited for saving the world than fumbling through coaching practice. With that being said, I know that I do not need to stress the importance of our inaugural game of the season against Slytherin. I simply cannot stand to hear another pompous word come out of Severus' mouth in regards to the unbeatable quality of his current team. So, suit up and make our founders proud.

Sincerely,

Minerva McGonagall."

I find it grating that my happiness or rather sanity should be thrown to the wayside by my very own head of house, all for a few (however understandable) bragging rights. Feeling completely sorry for myself I chanced a glace at Madam Pompfrey's office door sighed deeply and found my way out of the hospital wing.

Now some of you Vampire enthusiasts may be wondering why I didn't just use my thrall on sweet ancient Poppy back there, well one word comes to mind,

Expulsion.

That's right Dumbledore's got the school rigged where if I even so much as think too hard about enthralling a teacher it's my arse on the cobblestone with no time to blink. I've come to realize this decision was really in my best interest, because who really wouldn't get better grades (or worse) from their professors in a pinch if they had that power. Trust me, Dumbledore within five minutes of meeting someone knows them better than they know themselves, and I would definitely have used it on a teacher by now were it not for the thought of Expulsion looming over me.

Having resigned myself to my fate I made my way down to the pitch like a woman who has been sentenced to death.

This year I'm captain (yay me!), so I like to get to the pitch a little early, in order to set out the balls, get a feel for the air, change and then do a few practice drills. Today was no different and after magicking the practice quaffle and bludgers onto the field, I headed straight for the locker room.

Let me explain how the locker rooms at Hogwarts work. Depending on what house you are in they change. When a Gryffindor (that's me) enters, they are transformed into a three section athletic home away from home. Upon entering and walking down a small dimly lit hallway the wall splits in a 'T' fashion to separate the girls locker room from the boys, upon entering the girls locker room (or the boys) one will find cherry wood lockers with each player's named emblazoned in gold at eye level, further down the locker room are the showers, and steam room, then at the end a player can exit the locker area and walk through a privacy archway and find themselves in the center of the practice room. Inside this large square shaped room players can look at plays, being played out on magical chalkboards, or watch a magical reproduction of the day's game on the M.A.P. or Magical Athletic Player. Think of a muggle foozeball table without the annoying silver poles, now visualize the three Quidditch hoops on either end, miniature moving balls, now complete the scene with life-like tiny reproductions of every player on the team. The only furniture to be found in the practice room are single bleacher seats, and one old couch across from the fireplace located on the back wall. I've always found it interesting how little the fireplace is used considering how cold the practice room tends be.

Shoving my musings to the side I quickly changed into my practice gear. On hot days such as this I don my customary crimson and gold wife beater which has my last name embroidered on the back in sparkling vermeil thread, black lycra exercise pants, shin guards, elbow pads, and mouth guard. After checking myself over in the mirror I grabbed my NightFurie 9000 and headed back through the locker room and out onto the pitch.

My NightFurie is a custom design made noticeable by its diamond glaze polished ebony wood shaft, rose gold footholds and hardware, she is also spelled to be insusceptible to

any and all charms, jinxes, and cursework while in flight.

Her bristles are hand cut and dried savannah glade from Kenya and were dyed with indigo from the Masai tribe and bound together with black braided dragonhide, the tip of the shaft is shaped like a spade for easy handling, and has my name painted in stylized shimmering rose gold lettering just in case I forget who she belongs to.

Her name?

Irisi.

A little grandiloquent of me but give me a break you don't spend damn near a thousand galleons on a broom and then call it 'spit' do you?

Have I mentioned that I come from money? I mean, put Lucius Malfoy to shame on his best day money? Well I do, and while I don't flaunt it that much, I take complete responsibility for the exorbitant amount I spent on my broom.

Upon exiting the lockers, I break into a sprint my broom in hand towards the pitch. I gracefully leap into the air broom extended out In front of me like a bar, I toss my front leg over the narrow beam and I'm soaring upward into the cloudless blue sky. I spent the next fifteen minutes before practice reveling in the absolute freedom of flying. I would have stayed up in the atmosphere for the rest of the afternoon...

Had I not felt a pair of eyes watching me from the ground.

I didn't have to look down to know it was Fred.

He ambushed me, that's what I'd tell them when they found his body lying ex-sanguinated and sexually abused in the middle of the pitch.

I continued my flight for a few more seconds and then acutely maneuvered Irisi to hover a safe distance from Fred. I moved so I was sitting on her like a bench, my legs set a comfortable distance apart and spoke

"So, I figure this season is really going to be lackluster if you're the only one who can make it to practice." Acidity. My favorite defense mechanism. Fred was completely undeterred by my attitude and responded with something I hadn't been prepared for, honesty.

"I asked them not to come on time because I thought it would give us some time to talk. Which we clearly need to do." he said looking down at his worn out trainers and then up at me.

"I really don't think there is anything to talk about." I lied, careful not to let my eyes rest on his for too long.

Fred the insufferable whelp continued to be unfazed and strode forward to where my broom was hovering now mere inches above the top of his head placed his hand between my legs and pulled me down so my face was almost level with his. We existed there quietly for a moment me with my breath rustling the hair on his forehead and he burrowing into my soul with his eyes. Then without warning he tilted his head back and pressed his lips to mine and whispered...

"please?"

I shouldn't have to state that it took nearly every ounce of restraint within me to keep from lunging off my broom and wrapping myself around him like a boa constrictor, so whilst fighting an internal battle I just sat there shaking on my perch trying to control my breathing and as Fred's free hand snaked its way up to cup the crook of my neck I leaned forward and parted my lips to respond...

"Go! Go! Gryffindor!" the chant was coming from the left side of the pitch, George and Lee's voices rang out the clearest on the otherwise silent pitch. Leave it to the team to pick this exact moment to show up.

The moment ruined, and my legitimate reason for being on the pitch restored to memory I began to lean back and out of Fred's grasp not wanting the others to see but he held me firm, and catching my eyes gave me a look that demanded an answer. I tried to pull away desperately needing to put some space between myself and my tormentor. But Fred remained strong and refused to let me go. As I heard my teammates footsteps through the trees, I knew we had only seconds before we were discovered and it was that realization that made me say...

"after dinner, in the school gardens, eight o'clock sharp." the last word has scarcely left my lips before Fred stole a kiss and released my broom.

I, who was totally unprepared for such ministrations swung elegantly backwards off my broom and was hanging on by my knee caps just as the team reached the pitch.

"Angie, we understand you're a Gryffindor through and through but don't you think having it written across your chest is a bit much?" George proclaimed, mirth overly evident in his voice, and chuckles coming from the rest of the team. In my upside down state it took me a small lifetime to understand what he meant and really it wasn't until Fred stood in front of me blocking me from view that I fully understood...

"Show's over lads and lasses, we've got some serious training to do today. You've got five minutes and then dive drills." loud groans of protest came from the group but they all made their way to the locker room. When the last of the crew had made their way into the locker room Fred turned and said,

"Forget what Georgie says, I like seeing the crest displayed on such an," he paused briefly searching for the right word (the cad) "ample canvas." and with that he magicked his broom out of thin air and took of into the atmosphere.

Still hanging there, I felt my resolve go to mush and began thinking up ways to ensure this casual meeting between friends could go on without a certain individual ending up in the hospital wing.

A/N:

I don't expect reviews, not after how long I've been on hiatus. Suffice it to say, I gave up on writing for a while but am trying to get back into it. Goal number one will be to finish this story in a timely manner.

Irisi: Ancient Egyptian for 'made by Isis', still don't get it look up Isis and her powers

Angelina spent exactly 993 galleons on her broom which translates to 10,008 dollars American. Ridiculous, I know but she's got bank.


End file.
